EUROPE Organising together

EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

Taking decisions together

The European Union isn’t a state like Bulgaria, Italy or Spain. It’s a voluntary association of European countries that have decided to carry out projects together.

It has strong institutions to which the European countries have transferred some of their powers. Each institution has a role and is led by a president.

How does the European Union work?

The European Council 1: the meeting of the leaders of the European countries

The European Council brings together the Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States. In principle, they meet four times a year. These meetings are called ‘European summits’ and are used to discuss everything that is happening in Europe and to decide on the EU’s broad political guidelines.

The Council is based in Brussels (Belgium).

The European Commission 2

The Commission is the European Union’s government. It proposes new laws and ensures that they are respected.

It consists of 27 Commissioners (one per country), and each Commissioner is responsible for one or more issues (e.g. environment, transport, education).

It is based in Brussels.

The European Parliament 3

The European Parliament is the voice of the European people. Its Members are elected by the people in European elections.

It adopts the EU’s laws and budget along with the Council of the European Union.

It is based in Strasbourg (France), Brussels and Luxembourg.

The Council of the European Union, or Council of Ministers 1

The Council is composed of ministers from the EU Member States. There is one minister per country. But it’s not always the same minister as it depends on the issue being discussed.

For example, if it is the Agriculture Council the agriculture minister will take part.

It adopts the EU’s laws and budget along with the European Parliament.

The Council of the European Union is based in Brussels.

The EU’s institutional triangle

Diagram that shows the European Union’s institutional triangle. The European Council sets out the EU's priorities.
The European Commission proposes new laws, implements the budget and makes sure that the laws, treaties and programmes are respected.
The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers adopt the laws and budget, review the proposed laws and either amend, adopt or reject them.
When they come to an agreement, a new law is published

What is a democracy?

A democracy is a political system in which power belongs to all of the people in the country. In a democracy the people are called ‘citizens’. Every citizen of voting age has the right to vote in elections.

RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP

Respecting our differences

In the European Union every citizen of voting age has the right to vote for politicians who stand in elections. The citizens’ right to vote is an essential feature of any democracy.

The right to vote … and to be protected.

All EU citizens have rights and freedoms. These rights and freedoms are gathered together in a single document called the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Everyone has to respect this charter.

Specific rights of the child

Children are EU citizens in their own right. They represent almost a fifth of the population of the European Union.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is essential because it gives children a whole range of specific rights: the right to go to school, the right to express themselves, the right to protection and to healthcare, etc.

You can read about your rights here: The European Union’s plan for children’s rights (https://europa.eu/!jmqwcJ)

The Court of Justice

The role of the Court of Justice of the European Union is to ensure that EU laws are respected and applied everywhere in the same way. It has one judge from each EU country and it is based in Luxembourg.

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Listening to our young people

Because young Europeans are citizens in their own right, they have the right to express themselves. And they do! In many EU countries young people can make their voices heard through, for example, a national youth parliament. The EU institutions also ask the opinions of young people and youth organisations on topics of interest to them through the EU Youth Dialogue (https://europa.eu/!J3PfDR).

About 40 children are sitting at an assembly and trying to decide together.
One boy screams that it is his turn to speak.
Another boy says “More chocolate mousse!”, while a girl adds “and ice cream!”

What do you want to say?

Set up a mini-parliament in your class and talk about issues that directly affect you. For example:

Better ways of living together in our day-to-day lives;
Better ways of applying and protecting children’s rights.

SINGLE MARKET

Cooperating with our neighbours

The EU is a vast territory of almost 4 million km² in which different cultures exist side by side. To make the lives of Europeans easier, most EU countries have done away with passport checks at their borders. So everyone who lives in an EU country is free to move, live and find work in any other EU country.

Young people too!

Young people can also move around Europe thanks to a programme called Erasmus+. This programme allows students and young people to go to another country and study, volunteer or train there.

Travelling allows us to learn more languages. One of the main assets of our European Union is the large number of languages spoken here. The more we talk, the more we understand one another and the better organised we are.

Do you know how many offical languages there are in the European Union?

Did you know?

The Schengen area is an area of free movement of people between the countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement (Schengen is a town in Luxembourg). The Schengen area covers 27 countries: 23 EU countries and four non-EU countries. Within the Schengen area any person from the European Union (or anywhere else) can cross the borders of the other Schengen countries without having to show their passport.

Can you name any of the EU’s official languages? (¹)

(¹) See the table for the answers.

THE SINGLE CURRENCY AND THE EURO AREA

Making it easy to trade

A single currency

Since 1 January 2002, following on from the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, some EU countries have shared a common currency: the euro. Currently, 20 countries use the euro: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Together they form the euro area. The other countries - Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden - still use their national currencies.

Did you know?

The euro sign (€) was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon and refers to the first letter of the word ‘Europe’. The parallel lines crossing it are similar to the lines used in the symbols of two other well-known currencies: the dollar and the yen.

Which countries do these coins come from?

The euro coins all have one side which shows a map of Europe and is the same for every country. On the other side, each country has its own design. Here are a few examples: The 1 euro coin in Finland shows two flying swans. The 1 euro and 2 euro coins in Malta show an emblem called the Maltese cross. The Italian 1 euro coins shows a famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, illustrating the ideal proportions of the human body. The Greek 2 euros coin shows Europa, who has taken the form of a bull, being abducted by Zeus. Europa is a figure from Greek mythology after whom Europe was named.

1 Finland 2 Malta 3 Italy 4 Slovenia 5 Estonia 6 Germany 7 Greece 8 Spain

The European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) ensures that the euro is working properly and authorises the production of euro notes by the euro area countries. The ECB is based in Frankfurt (Germany).

Do you recognise this famous composer? Do you know his name and which country he comes from?

A famous Austrian composer appears on the 1 euro coin from Austria. Can you guess who it is?
re: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austria

EU BUDGET

Investing in our future

The European Union invests in many areas: education, the environment, research into new technologies, agriculture, etc. But in order to invest it needs money. And it also needs to organise how that money is divided up: that’s what we call a ‘budget’.

Where does the EU’s money come from?

Most of the EU’s budget comes from the EU countries.

It’s used to finance numerous projects throughout Europe (building roads and bridges, schools and universities, scientific research centres, museums, hospitals, factories) but also to promote exchanges of young people, jobs in Europe, and to protect the environment.

Projects supported by the European Union

Hundreds of thousands of projects have received EU investment over the years. Here are some examples and you can find others at: https://kohesio.ec.europa.eu/en/

Improve energy efficiency in schools

Many schools in Europe consume a lot of energy. The Energy@School project has helped over 40 primary and secondary schools in seven EU countries – Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia - to save energy. It has trained pupils and teachers to become ‘energy guardians’, in order to get them involved in creating ‘energy smart’ schools.

Fighting childhood cancers

Austrian biotech firm Apeiron Biologics develops medicines to treat cancer, especially rare forms that mainly affect children. An EU loan is helping the company to expand its research and develop new ways of fighting the disease.

Smart playgrounds for children

Children are increasingly playing on electronic devices at home rather than having fun in playgrounds. Lack of exercise and poor diet mean that more and more of them are becoming obese. Thanks to EU funding, the Bulgarian company Playground Energy has developed playgrounds that transform kinetic energy into sound and light, encouraging children to move more and live healthier lives.

What about where you live? Do you know of any actions supported by the EU in your country, your region or your town?

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Quiz time!

There are 24 EU official languages. Although English is often used, the EU is committed to preserving the richness of each language and encourages everyone living in the EU to learn several languages so that they can better understand one another. To organise ourselves we have to understand each other better!

Hello
I don’t understand - Un helado
Danke - ¡Hola! - Bitte - Entschuldigung
Tschüss - Thank you - Ein Eis
No entiendo - Sorry - Por favor - Hallo
Goodbye - Tengo hambre - Das verstehe ich nicht
Perdón - Please - Ich habe Hunger
How are you? - ¡Hasta pronto! - See you
Adiós - An ice cream - Bis bald
Gracias - Wie geht’s ? - I am hungry
¿Cómo estás?

Here are the words for ‘good morning’ and ‘thank you’ in all of the EU’s official languages. Can you match the words to the right language?

Bulgarian: Dobro utro - добро утро, Blagodarya - Благодаря; Croatian: Dobro jutro, Hvala; Czech: Dobré ráno, Děkuji; Danish: Godmorgen, Tak; Dutch: Goedemorgen, Bedankt; English: Good morning, Thank you; Estonian: Tere hommikust, Aitäh; Finnish: Hyvää huomenta, Kiitos; French: Bonjour, Merci; German: Guten Tag, Danke; Greek: Kalimera - Καλημέρα, Efkaristó - ευχαριστώ; Hungarian: Jó reggelt, Köszönöm; Irish: Dia dhuit, Go raibh maith agat; Italian: Buongiorno, Grazie; Latvian: Labrīt, Paldies; Lithuanian: Labas rytas, Ačiū; Maltese: L-għodwa t-tajba, Grazzi; Polish: Dzień dobry, Dziękuję; Portuguese: Bom dia, Obrigado; Romanian: Buna dimineata, Mulţumesc; Slovak: Dobré ráno, Ďakujem; Slovenian: Dobro jutro, Hvala; Spanish: Buenos días, Gracias; Swedish: God morgon, Tack.

If you want to learn where Europe comes from and how it operates on a daily basis, have a look at these two brochures:

Available formats

This online publication is available in 24 languages and in the following formats:

Manuscript updated in March 2023 by the

European Commission
Directorate-General for Communication
Editorial Service & Targeted Outreach Unit
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2023
op.europa.eu/en/publications

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